arrogance of Earth managers sent to Charon to ‘help’ Administrator Grübingen ‘deal with’ the disruption caused by Jack and Max’s First Contact vidrecords. The managers had required her to justify every skywatch moment for the giant ten meter reflector scope placed on Charon’s surface. As if she were suspected of secret talks with Aliens by way of her scope! But the time she’d spent with his Mom and two sisters had shown that her motivation was deeper than science. More than disgust with Earth’s political blindness. It had moved him deeply. Two weeks ago she’d moved into a private habitat room with him on Mathilde torus. They were building a life partnership—in the moments when she was not building a new scope inside the giant basin of Ishikari Crater and he wasn’t recruiting Belters to his crusade.
Nikola hugged his arm. “Max looks excited. Maybe he’s finished the refurbishing and welding together of those two space tugs to make your new Uhuru ?”
“Possible,” Jack said, raising his gauntleted right hand in greeting as Max deceled to free-float just above them. “Hey Max! You done installing the grav-pull software on Minna’s and Ignacio’s ships?”
The Drive Engineer from Lodz fixed twinkling gray eyes on him and Nikola. “Kinda hard to make out in vacuum, ain’t it?”
“Max!” Nikola sputtered, her tone good-humored. “Anyway, I hear you’re spending time with that Belter vet Maureen O’Dowd. You two trying out a few Polish waltzes?”
Jack’s friend grinned at Nikola’s jibe, then shook his head. “Nope. But Jack needs to meet her. Could be a fine convert to our crusade.” His friend and fellow survivor turned from Nikola to him. “And yes, I’m done with installing the software on our Belter allies’ ship computers. And the plate contacts are welded to the nose, tail and mid-body of each ship. They’ll be ready to blip jump in a day or two.”
Jack sighed. That meant his time leading a normal life of love and remembrance with his parents, sisters and Nikola would soon come to an end. “Excellent news! And the Main Drive module, is it matched up to our new Uhuru ?”
Max nodded inside his helmet, his thick black eyebrows beetling with concentration. “It’s matched up. Plus I’ve added structural welds throughout our new ship’s double-hull body to allow it to cope with the graviton field stresses when we use the grav-pull drive. That sphere of the drive is filled with what our local physicist calls Thorne Exotic Matter. Makes the energy needed to create an external gravitational node.”
The local physicist Max meant was one Matthias Binder, the Technologist who’d taught Jack his second trade and who’d recommended him to join the crew of the Uhuru on its Kuiper Belt cruise that had resulted in the Rizen First Contact. Like Nikola, the Austrian white-beard had left Charon Base after the Unity managers had invaded. Being told to ignore the reality of what Jack and Max had discovered, that had been too much for the old man. His arrival at Vesta on the same cargo flight as Nikola had led Jack to invite him to the Belter Rebellion base at 253 Mathilde. The man had found plenty of work as a tutor for the asteroid’s smart teens. Like Denise Rauvin, who’d laser-faxed a Kiss Off message to her parents on Charon Base. Their recent crew member was already chatting up Captain Minna Kekkonen of the Wolverine , hoping to join the Finn’s ship.
“Good news, Max.” Looking beyond his Drive Engineer, Jack saw the stretched-out diamond shape of Uhuru jet away from its Dock frame and aim for the giant tunnel that led to the surface of the 53 kilometer wide ‘fat potato’ that was Mathilde. “Who’s moving our ship out of Dock?”
Max grinned. “Madame Maureen. She’s talented in many ways. Any place on Mathilde’s surface that you want Uhuru parked until we all head out?”
“Yep. Next to my grandpa Ephraim’s grave. At the bottom of Ishikari Crater. Can
Nikola hugged his arm. “Max looks excited. Maybe he’s finished the refurbishing and welding together of those two space tugs to make your new Uhuru ?”
“Possible,” Jack said, raising his gauntleted right hand in greeting as Max deceled to free-float just above them. “Hey Max! You done installing the grav-pull software on Minna’s and Ignacio’s ships?”
The Drive Engineer from Lodz fixed twinkling gray eyes on him and Nikola. “Kinda hard to make out in vacuum, ain’t it?”
“Max!” Nikola sputtered, her tone good-humored. “Anyway, I hear you’re spending time with that Belter vet Maureen O’Dowd. You two trying out a few Polish waltzes?”
Jack’s friend grinned at Nikola’s jibe, then shook his head. “Nope. But Jack needs to meet her. Could be a fine convert to our crusade.” His friend and fellow survivor turned from Nikola to him. “And yes, I’m done with installing the software on our Belter allies’ ship computers. And the plate contacts are welded to the nose, tail and mid-body of each ship. They’ll be ready to blip jump in a day or two.”
Jack sighed. That meant his time leading a normal life of love and remembrance with his parents, sisters and Nikola would soon come to an end. “Excellent news! And the Main Drive module, is it matched up to our new Uhuru ?”
Max nodded inside his helmet, his thick black eyebrows beetling with concentration. “It’s matched up. Plus I’ve added structural welds throughout our new ship’s double-hull body to allow it to cope with the graviton field stresses when we use the grav-pull drive. That sphere of the drive is filled with what our local physicist calls Thorne Exotic Matter. Makes the energy needed to create an external gravitational node.”
The local physicist Max meant was one Matthias Binder, the Technologist who’d taught Jack his second trade and who’d recommended him to join the crew of the Uhuru on its Kuiper Belt cruise that had resulted in the Rizen First Contact. Like Nikola, the Austrian white-beard had left Charon Base after the Unity managers had invaded. Being told to ignore the reality of what Jack and Max had discovered, that had been too much for the old man. His arrival at Vesta on the same cargo flight as Nikola had led Jack to invite him to the Belter Rebellion base at 253 Mathilde. The man had found plenty of work as a tutor for the asteroid’s smart teens. Like Denise Rauvin, who’d laser-faxed a Kiss Off message to her parents on Charon Base. Their recent crew member was already chatting up Captain Minna Kekkonen of the Wolverine , hoping to join the Finn’s ship.
“Good news, Max.” Looking beyond his Drive Engineer, Jack saw the stretched-out diamond shape of Uhuru jet away from its Dock frame and aim for the giant tunnel that led to the surface of the 53 kilometer wide ‘fat potato’ that was Mathilde. “Who’s moving our ship out of Dock?”
Max grinned. “Madame Maureen. She’s talented in many ways. Any place on Mathilde’s surface that you want Uhuru parked until we all head out?”
“Yep. Next to my grandpa Ephraim’s grave. At the bottom of Ishikari Crater. Can
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